The Encyclopedia Americana (1920)/Gasparin, Agénor Etienne, Comte de

GASPARIN, găs'pă'răṅ, Agénor Etienne, Comte de, French author: b. Orange, France, 12 July 1810; d. near Geneva, Switzerland, 4 May 1871. Elected to the Chamber in 1846, he attracted attention by his advocacy of religious liberty, prison reform, abolition of slavery and social purity. At the outbreak of the American Civil War he published two books maintaining the justice of the Federal cause entitled, ‘The Uprising of a Great People’ (1861), and ‘America Before Europe’ (1862). Other important works were ‘Slavery’ (1838); ‘Christianity and Paganism’ (1850); ‘Liberal Christianity’ (1869); ‘Innocent III,’ published posthumously.